The Issue
Climate change is taking its toll on the world’s ecosystems, fisheries, and the people that depend on them for their food and livelihoods. This is no truer than in the Asia Pacific region.
Years of unsustainable fishing practices, poverty, and poor law enforcement have already damaged the coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds that support coastal life and protect against climate change’s many effects (e.g., increasing waves, storms, and floods). With climate change happening at an unprecedented pace, scientists predict that these habitats will worsen in the coming years, leaving marginalized, small-scale fishing communities and marine-dependent economies to bear the brunt of climate change impacts.